Coventry's Andy Hart has taken the biggest barbel ever captured on the Warwickshire Avon in the shape of a 16lb brute.

Fishing below Stratford, Andy (31) revealed had been baiting an area heavily for five weeks before putting in some serious time on it.

"I must have put in around 60kg of bait over the five weeks, baiting twice a week and resting it," said Andy, who banked 60 carp from the Myton stretch of the river last winter.

"I only started to fish towards the end of the period. On the first session I landed a 10-pounder in the day and then hooked and lost a bigger fish that snapped the mono like cotton. That was my cue to switch to 20lb Ron Thompson braid mainline."

The fish, which took a KA Baits Belchan boilie fished over KA Baits pellets, took 15 minutes to land and beats his personal best - which was fish was pictured in Midland Angler at this time last year - by 2lb 8oz. He used a Daiwa Emblem rod, 25lb Mantis hooklength with ESP leadcore and a size 6 D7 Raptor hook.

"I really feel that pre-baiting is key at this time of year," added Andy, who also took three carp to 20lb 4oz in the same 48-hour session, lost another double figure barbel and landed two more of 8lb 8oz and 4lb. "The fish are in the slower, deeper stretches, and you need to look for a clear area that you can bait and fish over.

"Some anglers say that you should bait with small particles and fish big baits. That's not my view. I believe that if you want big fish, you need to feed and fish big baits. I've been catching every time I go and to be honest I find it unbelievable that hardly another soul is fishing the river."

Andy also revealed that he's been very lucky to get such a good picture of the 16-pounder, which beats the existing river record of 15lb 15oz.

"To while away the hours I'd been playing a game on my mobile phone and of course I wore out the battery so had no way of contacting anyone

to come down and get a picture. By a stroke of good fortune a friend of mine who knew where I was popped down to return some tackle for me, and he took some great snaps."

Andy is able to fish several times a week as he has had to stop working due to health problems. He says this is just the start of his winter campaign on the Avon.

"I see no reason why the river isn't capable of producing a 17-pounder," he added. "I'll be putting in some serious time to try and be the first person to catch one."